At UFC 316, Kayla Harrison will look to realize her dream of being a UFC champion in just her third fight inside the Octagon.
The former PFL star arrived in the promotion with incredibly high expectations, with some believing that Harrison is already the best female fighter in the world.
On June 7, she will look to dethrone bantamweight champion Julianna Pena before moving on to face Amanda Nunes, who is looming over the co-main event of UFC 316.
The first major hurdle for the challenger has already been cleared, as Harrison successfully hit 135 pounds for the first time in her career.
Along with targeting UFC gold for the first time, the former two-time Olympic champion is looking to settle a bet that she made a long time before signing with the MMA leader.
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Kayla Harrison reveals bet with Henry Cejudo to dethrone him as the greatest combat athlete of all time
In a recent interview with Daniel Cormier on fight week, Kayla Harrison revealed details of a bet that she made with ‘toolbox’ Henry Cejudo.
‘Triple C’ has long claimed that he’s the greatest combat athlete of all time having held two UFC titles at the same time as a former Olympic gold medallist in wrestling.
Harrison, who has two Olympic golds in Judo, is looking to take that spot from him having told Cejudo about her UFC ambitions all the way back in 2020.
The bantamweight title challenger retold the story to Cormier, stating that Cejudo was hesitant to agree to the bet at first, with push-ups on the line.
She eventually convinced the former UFC champion to shake her hand when offering him even better odds, wagering 1000 push-ups to his 100 if she was unable to achieve her goals.
“We bet years ago, before I ever signed with the UFC, and Khabib [Nurmagomedov] was there, a bunch of guys were there. He was talking s— about Judo versus wrestling and talking about how he’s the greatest combat athlete of all time… So I was like, ‘All right, listen. I’ll bet you 100 anytime push-ups that when, I’m two-time Olympic champion, I’m going to win the PFL belt twice. I’m going to come over to the UFC, I’m going to win the UFC belt, I’m gonna defend it, then I’m going to be the greatest combat athlete of all time.'”
Khabib Nurmagomedov trolled Henry Cejudo before admitting that he’s the greatest combat athlete of all time
The conversation that Kayla Harrison is referring to was captured on camera by ‘Anatomy of a Fighter’ in a video that was posted on YouTube in March of 2020.
A Judo versus wrestling debate was carried out by the likes of Khabib Nurmagomedov, Henry Cejudo, Harrison, Frankie Edgar, Kamaru Usman, Justin Gaethje, Islam Makhachev, and others.
During the conversation, Cejudo looked to Nurmagomedov for his approval, asking the UFC legend who the greatest combat athlete of all time is but he didn’t get the response that he was looking for.
“Daniel Cormier! DC brother, now you know. If you don’t know, now you know.”
Nurmagomedov eventually admitted that Cejudo is the correct answer before joking that Cormier could still overtake him.
“But DC please, you have time brother. You only 50-years-old, please. Let’s go brother, Olympic games, take the medal.”
Before Cejudo shook Harrison’s hand at the end of the video to confirm the bet, Nurmagomedov warned him that what Harrison was suggesting was a real possibility.
“She can beat your record”